WEBVTT - #415 Maggie Freleng with Faye Jacobs 0:00:04.960 --> 0:00:08.400 We originally met and interviewed Faye Jacobs at the twenty 0:00:08.440 --> 0:00:12.080 twenty two Innocence Network Conference in Phoenix, Arizona, and her 0:00:12.119 --> 0:00:16.880 episode was released on June sixth, twenty twenty two. Fortunately enough, 0:00:17.079 --> 0:00:19.360 we caught up with her again at the conference in 0:00:19.440 --> 0:00:21.159 twenty twenty three. 0:00:21.800 --> 0:00:24.000 I am here at the Innocence Network Conference twenty twenty 0:00:24.040 --> 0:00:26.400 three in Phoenix with Faye Jacobs. 0:00:26.400 --> 0:00:29.360 Hey, how are you doing? Finding you It's so awesome 0:00:29.400 --> 0:00:31.960 to be bad. I know we met a person here 0:00:32.080 --> 0:00:34.839 last year. It was great. So what have you been 0:00:34.960 --> 0:00:35.199 up to? 0:00:35.720 --> 0:00:38.520 Oh my god, I have been running like a chicken 0:00:38.520 --> 0:00:40.559 with his head cut off. I don't know if I 0:00:40.680 --> 0:00:42.479 mentioned the last time we was here, I had started 0:00:42.520 --> 0:00:46.879 my own business, Innocence to Transportation Service, and now I 0:00:46.960 --> 0:00:52.360 contract to schools transporting students and then nursing homes as well. 0:00:52.440 --> 0:00:55.600 I mean, wow, it is growing so big, bigger than 0:00:55.720 --> 0:00:58.440 what I expected. I am now in the process of 0:00:58.480 --> 0:01:02.160 getting a limousine, a party bus, and a tour bus 0:01:02.160 --> 0:01:03.280 for my services. 0:01:03.320 --> 0:01:06.840 Wow. That's amazing. So you're an incredible entrepreneur now. 0:01:07.400 --> 0:01:10.120 But one of the things about your case was you 0:01:10.160 --> 0:01:11.560 were freed but not exonerated. 0:01:11.640 --> 0:01:12.560 Are you exonerated. 0:01:12.640 --> 0:01:16.160 Yet I am not exonerated. We now have a new 0:01:16.200 --> 0:01:19.679 governor in Arkansas, Sarah Huckabee, who waiting on her to 0:01:19.680 --> 0:01:21.360 be in office at least about a year, and then 0:01:21.440 --> 0:01:25.320 will present my clemency application. We will do an application 0:01:25.400 --> 0:01:28.080 that will go before the Parole Board, and the parole 0:01:28.120 --> 0:01:31.280 Board would do their recommendations, and from there they will 0:01:31.319 --> 0:01:35.880 send their recommendations to Sarah. I truly believe somebody's gonna 0:01:35.920 --> 0:01:36.760 exonerate me. 0:01:36.959 --> 0:01:40.760 You know what does that like? To be free but 0:01:41.480 --> 0:01:43.319 not free? It's complicated. 0:01:43.360 --> 0:01:47.200 It's bittersweet because you know, I still have obstacles against me. 0:01:47.680 --> 0:01:51.320 I still have issues before I even started my own business, 0:01:52.120 --> 0:01:55.200 trying to apply for other jobs because when they do 0:01:55.200 --> 0:01:57.720 a background check of courts, a felony comes back. And 0:01:57.760 --> 0:02:01.240 even with housing, this conviction still hangs over my head. 0:02:01.640 --> 0:02:03.480 I think the last time I was here, I wasn't. 0:02:03.480 --> 0:02:06.840 But I am on the board of directors of a 0:02:07.000 --> 0:02:10.200 Journey to New Life. It's an organization helping men and 0:02:10.240 --> 0:02:13.720 women's coming out of prison to get housing and jobs. 0:02:13.800 --> 0:02:15.800 It's a wonderful, wonderful organization. 0:02:16.000 --> 0:02:17.600 I'm sure things pop up all the time. You don't 0:02:17.639 --> 0:02:19.440 even think about that. It impacts you. 0:02:19.919 --> 0:02:24.760 Oh yeah, I want to adopt once again. This conviction 0:02:25.000 --> 0:02:27.440 is just not letting me do the things that I 0:02:27.600 --> 0:02:29.200 desire to do. 0:02:29.440 --> 0:02:31.000 When I talked to you last time, you were with 0:02:31.080 --> 0:02:32.080 your partner. 0:02:31.840 --> 0:02:37.440 Tiffany's still going strong. Tiffany has now moved in, so 0:02:37.480 --> 0:02:39.840 she now reside in Kansas City with me. 0:02:40.400 --> 0:02:41.760 I'm glad you guys are going strong. 0:02:41.840 --> 0:02:45.079 You're gonna adopt a kid when you get exonerated, Yeah, 0:02:45.200 --> 0:02:47.079 hopefully to go Yeah. 0:02:47.200 --> 0:02:47.560 Perfect. 0:02:47.560 --> 0:02:49.839 And if not a kid, a bunch of grandkids. 0:02:49.840 --> 0:02:52.040 Oh perfect, exactly, she has kids. 0:02:52.080 --> 0:02:55.800 Yes, we'll have her transportation service linked in the bio 0:02:55.919 --> 0:02:58.440 for folks in the Kansas City area. And please stay 0:02:58.480 --> 0:03:01.840 tuned for new episodes of Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freeling 0:03:02.000 --> 0:03:05.919 starting in January of twenty twenty four. Now Faye Jacob's 0:03:05.919 --> 0:03:09.440 story as it originally aired, we hope Governor Huckabee is 0:03:09.520 --> 0:03:12.600 moved to grant her a well deserved clemency. 0:03:13.760 --> 0:03:17.400 Like I've been thinking a lot about, you know, the 0:03:17.480 --> 0:03:21.320 difficult decision of having to decide if you want to 0:03:21.320 --> 0:03:22.880 take an Outford plea, if you want to take any 0:03:23.000 --> 0:03:23.640 kind of plea. 0:03:24.320 --> 0:03:26.919 I mean, if I was put in that situation. 0:03:27.440 --> 0:03:32.600 Would I stay in prison to fight for my innocence 0:03:32.720 --> 0:03:36.160 knowing I might never get out, or take a deal 0:03:36.760 --> 0:03:39.720 get out, and then you can't fight for your innocence 0:03:39.760 --> 0:03:40.200 after that. 0:03:40.840 --> 0:03:43.400 It's a literal Sophie's choice. Maggie, right, I mean, you 0:03:44.120 --> 0:03:48.320 have this intense pressure. You know that they have the 0:03:48.360 --> 0:03:50.600 ability to say, Hey, we're going to leave you sitting 0:03:51.000 --> 0:03:53.480 in jail, in prison for a year or two years 0:03:53.640 --> 0:03:58.760 or more while you await your retrial. Many, many strong 0:03:59.080 --> 0:04:03.120 willed and brave and brilliant people have taken the plea 0:04:03.280 --> 0:04:06.120 because there's really no way out and they just want 0:04:06.160 --> 0:04:08.000 to go home out. Yeah, they have to go home. 0:04:08.080 --> 0:04:11.080 Yeah. 0:04:11.480 --> 0:04:14.640 I didn't comprehend that I was going to prison for 0:04:14.680 --> 0:04:17.400 the rest of my life. I'm thinking to myself, are 0:04:17.440 --> 0:04:20.800 you saying that I can never be with my parents again. 0:04:20.880 --> 0:04:23.000 I can never go back to my bed, you know, 0:04:23.080 --> 0:04:25.800 my home. So I'm losing all my friends. I mean, 0:04:25.839 --> 0:04:27.840 all this is going to be taken. Are you kidding me. 0:04:31.320 --> 0:04:32.520 From lava for good? 0:04:32.680 --> 0:04:36.920 This is wrongful conviction with Maggie Freeling today Lakwanda Fay 0:04:37.080 --> 0:04:50.920 Jacobs on the evening of February ninth, nineteen ninety two, 0:04:51.440 --> 0:04:54.240 Kevin Gaddy and Tony Davis were walking down the street 0:04:54.360 --> 0:04:56.719 when a car pulled up. A man and a woman 0:04:56.760 --> 0:04:59.680 got out and held them at gunpoint. They demanded the 0:04:59.760 --> 0:05:02.960 jack Kevin Gaddy was wearing. It was a Chicago Bulls 0:05:03.080 --> 0:05:07.000 starter jacket. In the nineteen nineties, these satin jackets were 0:05:07.040 --> 0:05:11.279 a status symbol. As Kevin was handing his jacket over, 0:05:11.440 --> 0:05:15.640 a struggle ensued and he was shot in the chest. 0:05:16.960 --> 0:05:19.880 Around the same time, Lakwanda Fay Jacobs and her mother 0:05:20.040 --> 0:05:22.080 were on their way to church when they saw police 0:05:22.080 --> 0:05:23.680 commotion near Fay's house. 0:05:24.080 --> 0:05:25.760 They stopped to see what was going on. 0:05:27.120 --> 0:05:29.679 As Faye got out of the car, an officer approached 0:05:29.720 --> 0:05:33.240 her and asked her who she was. Fay was instantly 0:05:33.400 --> 0:05:36.080 arrested and taken down to the police station for questioning, 0:05:36.480 --> 0:05:39.119 but she had an alibi, and the woman they should 0:05:39.120 --> 0:05:43.160 have been looking for was at least fifteen years older 0:05:43.200 --> 0:05:48.000 than Fay, but it didn't matter. Fay was eventually charged 0:05:48.040 --> 0:05:50.000 and convicted of the murder of Kevin Gaddy. 0:05:52.680 --> 0:05:55.560 They knew all along that I was innocent, but just 0:05:55.600 --> 0:06:01.520 wanting to use me as an example to other young juveniles. Therefore, 0:06:01.560 --> 0:06:10.320 I was railroaded into the system. I am Lakwanda Faye Jacobs. 0:06:10.880 --> 0:06:16.600 Nineteen ninety two. I was arrested for capitol felloni murder 0:06:16.960 --> 0:06:27.640 of a friend of mine. 0:06:28.520 --> 0:06:31.480 But Kwanda Faye Jacobs was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, 0:06:31.560 --> 0:06:35.000 on February twenty second, nineteen seventy five. She was the 0:06:35.040 --> 0:06:38.600 baby of a big family, six boys and six girls. 0:06:39.160 --> 0:06:43.880 I was always picked on by my older siblings, but 0:06:45.440 --> 0:06:48.479 I consider myself stronger than my other siblings, even though 0:06:48.480 --> 0:06:52.560 I was the baby. I come from a great family. 0:06:53.960 --> 0:06:57.640 I was raising the church. My dad was started off 0:06:57.640 --> 0:06:59.480 as a deacon in the church and ended up becoming 0:06:59.480 --> 0:07:03.839 assistant pastor. And I was deeply involved at the age 0:07:03.880 --> 0:07:05.320 of four years. 0:07:05.160 --> 0:07:09.240 Old, facing in the church choir, and was an outgoing 0:07:09.360 --> 0:07:10.560 child and teenager. 0:07:11.600 --> 0:07:14.400 I'm just a people person. That's just the type of 0:07:14.400 --> 0:07:19.280 personality I've always had. I was a friends with everybody 0:07:19.640 --> 0:07:23.600 from church people. I even had friends that were gang members, 0:07:23.920 --> 0:07:30.480 you know, just a typical teenager. I had fights, I 0:07:30.520 --> 0:07:35.080 had boyfriends, I did a lot, you know. That's who 0:07:35.120 --> 0:07:37.400 Fey was, and. 0:07:37.320 --> 0:07:40.240 Like many kids, she had lots of different visions for 0:07:40.280 --> 0:07:40.840 her future. 0:07:41.920 --> 0:07:43.640 I wanted to be a nurse at one time, I 0:07:43.680 --> 0:07:46.640 wanted to be a beautician because I loved doing my 0:07:46.800 --> 0:07:49.920 doll's hair, you know, so of course I was like, 0:07:49.960 --> 0:07:52.680 I'm going to be a beautician. My grandfather was a 0:07:52.720 --> 0:07:56.800 barbera and my grandmother was a beautician. I even dreamed 0:07:56.800 --> 0:08:00.160 of being in the army one day. But then later on, 0:08:00.280 --> 0:08:03.560 as I got older in my teenage, I was like, man, 0:08:03.920 --> 0:08:05.720 I don't want to go do that. You know. 0:08:07.560 --> 0:08:10.280 In high school, she played on the junior varsity volleyball team, 0:08:10.640 --> 0:08:13.960 and she says she was incredibly popular and other students 0:08:14.040 --> 0:08:14.800 looked up to her. 0:08:15.400 --> 0:08:20.320 I dreamed of graduating, going to the prom, going to dance, 0:08:20.480 --> 0:08:23.440 and you know, I could have possibly been the queen 0:08:23.640 --> 0:08:26.680 because I was so popular. But you know, those are 0:08:26.720 --> 0:08:29.720 things that will rob from me that opportunity. 0:08:37.720 --> 0:08:40.679 On the morning of February ninth, nineteen ninety two, sixteen 0:08:40.720 --> 0:08:42.600 year old Faye got up and went to church to 0:08:42.640 --> 0:08:45.800 attend service. It was Sunday and she had planned to 0:08:45.800 --> 0:08:50.400 sing at two services that day. Afterward, her mother picked 0:08:50.440 --> 0:08:52.280 her up from the house Fae rented with her brother. 0:08:52.600 --> 0:08:55.280 They got back to Faye's mom's apartment at two pm. 0:08:55.840 --> 0:08:58.280 Fay's friend picked her up shortly after that and they 0:08:58.320 --> 0:09:01.240 ran some errands, including the laundromat, and back to her 0:09:01.320 --> 0:09:04.199 friend's house. He dropped Faye back at her mom's place 0:09:04.360 --> 0:09:07.959 at around five point thirty. Her Sunday was pretty packed. 0:09:08.559 --> 0:09:11.360 I had another service to attend that night. My mom 0:09:11.400 --> 0:09:14.880 and I were going to us singing at another church. 0:09:16.080 --> 0:09:19.240 Fay's MoMA wrapped home shortly after and found Fay relaxing 0:09:19.280 --> 0:09:22.640 on the couch. Fay was still in her white church clothes, 0:09:24.280 --> 0:09:26.320 but at the same time, over a mile away, a 0:09:26.400 --> 0:09:33.000 situation was unfolding that would change Fay's life forever. Seventeen 0:09:33.080 --> 0:09:35.640 year old Kevin Gaddy and his friend Tony Davis, who 0:09:35.679 --> 0:09:38.360 was fourteen, were walking down the street when a gray 0:09:38.400 --> 0:09:40.800 car pulled up. A man and a woman got out. 0:09:41.120 --> 0:09:43.480 The woman had a gun and they demanded the jacket. 0:09:43.559 --> 0:09:47.520 Kevin Gaddy was wearing a Chicago Bulls starter jacket. As 0:09:47.600 --> 0:09:49.520 Kevin was handing it over, he put his hand in 0:09:49.559 --> 0:09:52.120 his coat pocket to get his brush. That's when things 0:09:52.160 --> 0:09:54.840 got messy, and the woman shot Kevin in the chest. 0:09:55.520 --> 0:09:57.680 On their way to their second church event of the day, 0:09:58.120 --> 0:10:00.920 Fay and her mom passed the crime scene right outside 0:10:01.000 --> 0:10:03.959 Faye's house, so they stopped to see what was going on. 0:10:04.600 --> 0:10:07.200 As Faye got out of the car, a police officer 0:10:07.240 --> 0:10:07.959 grabbed her. 0:10:08.240 --> 0:10:12.840 And I was instantly through on the car put in handcuffs. 0:10:13.400 --> 0:10:15.920 At this time, I didn't know that a shooting had occurred. 0:10:16.679 --> 0:10:19.200 I was already a handcuffsed. Once I said who I 0:10:19.440 --> 0:10:22.200 was and that I lived there too as well, at 0:10:22.240 --> 0:10:25.240 the house that they were at, I was put in 0:10:25.320 --> 0:10:28.000 the backseat of the car and taken to the Little 0:10:28.080 --> 0:10:31.000 Rock Police department. Not knowing what is conna. 0:10:33.800 --> 0:10:36.040 At the precinct, the police asked Faye if they could 0:10:36.040 --> 0:10:37.679 do a gun shot residue test on. 0:10:37.640 --> 0:10:42.160 Her, and so after my gun residue was negative, they 0:10:42.200 --> 0:10:44.040 was like, well, we're gonna let her go home, you know. 0:10:44.360 --> 0:10:47.080 And they's like, if you hear anything about a shooting, 0:10:47.160 --> 0:10:50.560 let us know. And I was like, who shot? What 0:10:50.800 --> 0:10:51.280 is conna? 0:10:51.880 --> 0:10:54.680 It wasn't until days later that Fay learned it was 0:10:54.720 --> 0:10:57.880 her friend Kevin, who was shot and killed outside of 0:10:57.920 --> 0:10:58.440 her house. 0:10:59.320 --> 0:11:01.600 Kevin and I I were both the same age, but 0:11:01.800 --> 0:11:05.040 he was a few months older than me, and he 0:11:05.160 --> 0:11:09.520 was real known for his scooter and his skills with basketball. 0:11:10.360 --> 0:11:12.800 I always, even as a kid, I used to say 0:11:13.080 --> 0:11:16.000 you're gonna go big Kevin, you know, because he was 0:11:16.160 --> 0:11:20.640 so good at basketball, you know. But like I said, 0:11:20.640 --> 0:11:23.559 from kindergarten to seventh grade, him and I went to 0:11:23.559 --> 0:11:24.160 school together. 0:11:24.520 --> 0:11:27.120 Kevin was pronounced dead less than an hour after he 0:11:27.200 --> 0:11:27.920 was shot. 0:11:28.120 --> 0:11:30.880 And it was so unbelievable because I knew he was 0:11:30.880 --> 0:11:34.040 such a good kid, he was a good friend, and 0:11:34.160 --> 0:11:36.800 it was just very devastating to learn that he had 0:11:36.880 --> 0:11:42.040 been shot. 0:11:43.920 --> 0:11:47.280 During their investigation into Kevin's murder, police found at least 0:11:47.360 --> 0:11:50.520 eight eyewitnesses who saw the shooting. The descriptions of the 0:11:50.520 --> 0:11:53.720 woman who fired the gun varied, but most agreed she 0:11:53.800 --> 0:11:56.560 was in her thirties with scars under her eyes, and 0:11:56.559 --> 0:12:00.600 that she was wearing dark clothing, including a black hat. 0:12:01.480 --> 0:12:04.600 Tony Davis was the eyewitness closest to the shooting, and 0:12:04.640 --> 0:12:07.800 on that very day described the woman as quote black, 0:12:08.040 --> 0:12:13.120 mid thirties, approximately five foot eight, heavy billed, medium complexion, 0:12:13.480 --> 0:12:16.800 wearing a dark ski cap and bluish gray jacket and pants, 0:12:17.280 --> 0:12:22.840 with frizzy hair. Yet Fay, a young teenager wearing entirely 0:12:22.920 --> 0:12:25.760 different clothing, had already been to the police station and 0:12:25.840 --> 0:12:29.440 been questioned, so investigators had her photo and showed it 0:12:29.480 --> 0:12:33.320 to witnesses. Five of them said Fay was not the shooter. 0:12:33.800 --> 0:12:37.000 Tony Davis was shown a picture of Fay and two times, 0:12:37.200 --> 0:12:39.480 once on the day of the crime and again four 0:12:39.559 --> 0:12:44.960 days later. He was unable to make an identification. But 0:12:45.120 --> 0:12:48.520 then nine days after the shooting, the police brought him 0:12:48.600 --> 0:12:51.720 back in and again they showed him a photo lineup, 0:12:52.000 --> 0:12:55.480 and this time he identified Faye as the shooter. They 0:12:55.559 --> 0:12:58.360 had absolutely no idea what was going on. 0:12:59.640 --> 0:13:03.160 I was going to school and this day I wasn't 0:13:03.160 --> 0:13:06.560 feeling well and I was at my sister's house and 0:13:06.600 --> 0:13:11.280 my mom called my sister and said, the police has 0:13:11.360 --> 0:13:13.480 come to my job looking for fee. 0:13:16.840 --> 0:13:17.360 For murder. 0:13:17.400 --> 0:13:21.040 And I was like, murder. I haven't killed anybody. And 0:13:21.120 --> 0:13:25.240 so my mom came to my sister house. We called 0:13:25.240 --> 0:13:28.120 my dad, we called my pastor, and we went to 0:13:28.400 --> 0:13:31.040 the police station just to clear my name, you know, 0:13:31.240 --> 0:13:34.600 to tell them I haven't did anything. You know. I 0:13:34.600 --> 0:13:36.360 mean when I tell you, I had no clue that 0:13:36.440 --> 0:13:40.680 I was even a suspect, and you know, and that 0:13:40.720 --> 0:13:43.320 could be what. I was so young, but I didn't 0:13:43.360 --> 0:13:45.480 commit the crime, So why would I even think that 0:13:45.520 --> 0:13:48.360 I'm a suspect. I had no knowledge of it, and 0:13:48.400 --> 0:13:51.000 so we went to the jail to clear my name, 0:13:51.080 --> 0:13:54.719 and at that time they arrested me. They did not 0:13:55.080 --> 0:13:57.400 allow me to clear my name. They arrested me and 0:13:58.080 --> 0:14:00.960 charged me with capital felay murder and set my bund 0:14:01.080 --> 0:14:05.560 at one million dollars. Okay, I'm sixteen, and I'm like, 0:14:05.960 --> 0:14:08.920 I had never been to jail before in my life, 0:14:08.960 --> 0:14:10.480 and so I'm scared. 0:14:11.440 --> 0:14:12.600 I'm very scared. 0:14:25.480 --> 0:14:30.000 This episode is underwritten by AIG, a leading global insurance company. 0:14:30.240 --> 0:14:34.360 AIG is committed to corporate social responsibility and to making 0:14:34.440 --> 0:14:37.480 a positive difference in the lives of its employees and 0:14:37.600 --> 0:14:40.520 in the communities where we work and live. In light 0:14:40.560 --> 0:14:44.240 of the compelling need for pro bono legal assistance, and 0:14:44.280 --> 0:14:48.960 in recognition of AIG's commitment to criminal and social justice reform, 0:14:49.200 --> 0:14:53.360 the AIG pro Bono Program provides free legal services and 0:14:53.480 --> 0:15:06.080 other support to underrepresented communities and individuals. Before trial, Faye 0:15:06.160 --> 0:15:10.120 was appointed public defender James Cluet to represent her. At 0:15:10.120 --> 0:15:13.000 the time of his appointment, Kluet was representing a client 0:15:13.080 --> 0:15:16.840 by the name of Sean Riggins. As it happens, Riggins 0:15:16.840 --> 0:15:19.360 and his brother had been among the witnesses on the 0:15:19.400 --> 0:15:23.600 street when Kevin was murdered. Two weeks later, Riggins was 0:15:23.680 --> 0:15:25.320 arrested for an unrelated crime. 0:15:25.640 --> 0:15:26.320 At that time. 0:15:26.480 --> 0:15:28.680 He ended up telling police that he'd seen the shooter 0:15:29.000 --> 0:15:31.920 and that she was actually younger than thirty, closer. 0:15:31.600 --> 0:15:33.080 To fifteen or sixteen. 0:15:33.400 --> 0:15:35.600 He was the only person to say that, and when 0:15:35.640 --> 0:15:39.160 investigator showed him a photo spread of suspects, he identified 0:15:39.200 --> 0:15:44.680 Faye as the shooter. Now this part gets a little confusing, 0:15:45.000 --> 0:15:49.400 so follow carefully. Not only as Fay's attorney James Cluett 0:15:49.520 --> 0:15:52.920 representing two clients involved in the same case, a clear 0:15:52.920 --> 0:15:56.040 conflict of interest, but he also asked Faye to lie 0:15:56.320 --> 0:15:59.440 for Shawn Riggins. Fay was in jail with a woman 0:15:59.520 --> 0:16:03.520 named Burt Walker, one of Riggins's co defendants in another case. 0:16:03.960 --> 0:16:06.720 Cluette approached Fay with an offer. He asked her to 0:16:06.760 --> 0:16:09.800 say that Bertie had told her she committed the crime alone. 0:16:10.280 --> 0:16:14.360 In exchange, he said Riggins would not testify against Faye 0:16:14.800 --> 0:16:19.680 about Kevin's murder, but Fay rejected the offer. She refused 0:16:19.720 --> 0:16:22.120 to lie and asked for a new lawyer. She was 0:16:22.120 --> 0:16:26.280 appointed attorney Bill MacArthur. James Cluett was eventually disbarred for 0:16:26.400 --> 0:16:35.440 separate issues. Fay's trial started a year later in April 0:16:35.640 --> 0:16:39.240 nineteen ninety three. A man named Clifton Thomas was originally 0:16:39.320 --> 0:16:42.480 charged with Faye as her alleged accomplice, but the charges 0:16:42.480 --> 0:16:44.600 against him were eventually dropped. 0:16:45.840 --> 0:16:48.840 So I'm going to court and I'm like, are you serious? 0:16:48.840 --> 0:16:51.160 I can't believe this. Why are they doing this to me? 0:16:51.600 --> 0:16:55.240 And the judge keeps my bond at a million and 0:16:55.320 --> 0:16:59.360 he states we're charging her as an adult. I couldn't 0:16:59.400 --> 0:17:00.920 believe that this was happening. 0:17:01.840 --> 0:17:06.200 Prosecutors Howard Coopman and John Miller presented no forensic evidence 0:17:06.200 --> 0:17:08.679 linking Fade to the crime. They were likeed heavily on 0:17:08.720 --> 0:17:11.920 the eyewitness statements of Tony Davis, who was with Kevin 0:17:11.960 --> 0:17:16.680 that evening, and Sean Riggins. When fe goes to court, 0:17:16.880 --> 0:17:20.320 news media is everywhere, She says. The case was high 0:17:20.320 --> 0:17:22.920 profile because of a slew of killings of young people 0:17:22.920 --> 0:17:24.520 in Arkansas at the time. 0:17:25.480 --> 0:17:29.879 Arkansas was on the rise of gang balance back in 0:17:29.920 --> 0:17:33.960 the late eighties early nineties, and so of course law 0:17:34.040 --> 0:17:36.639 enforcements was forced to do something about those crimes. So 0:17:37.560 --> 0:17:41.240 they had a thing called banging in Arkansas. It was 0:17:41.320 --> 0:17:45.919 like the Arkansas was like a small Los Angeles with 0:17:46.000 --> 0:17:49.000 the crips and the bloods, and they had videos and 0:17:49.040 --> 0:17:51.000 they still had these videos. You can pull them up 0:17:51.000 --> 0:17:53.000 on YouTube called bang It in Arkansas. 0:17:53.760 --> 0:17:54.359 So I did. 0:17:54.920 --> 0:17:57.680 This is the County coroner for Little Rock, Arkansas, on 0:17:57.680 --> 0:17:59.840 one of the films several. 0:17:59.640 --> 0:18:02.720 Years ago, when I saw the death rate was increasing, 0:18:02.720 --> 0:18:04.960 but the victims were becoming much younger and younger, and 0:18:05.000 --> 0:18:08.480 began to see tattoos and brands on the victims, and 0:18:08.560 --> 0:18:11.359 began to notice that the violence just was increasing, and 0:18:12.040 --> 0:18:15.720 drive by shootings and random shootings and retaliation killings, and 0:18:15.760 --> 0:18:18.879 it just went on and on. Until nineteen ninety two, 0:18:19.040 --> 0:18:22.880 we had a record rate of homicides in Little Rock, 0:18:22.920 --> 0:18:25.400 and it looks we've broken the record in nineteen ninety three, 0:18:25.520 --> 0:18:26.800 and it's. 0:18:26.680 --> 0:18:27.760 Just gone on and on and on. 0:18:31.080 --> 0:18:33.719 In fact, a half hour earlier and a few blocks 0:18:33.760 --> 0:18:37.800 away from Kevin Gaddy's murder, there was another potentially related crime. 0:18:38.119 --> 0:18:41.199 Around five pm, Little Rock Police Department responded to an 0:18:41.240 --> 0:18:45.440 aggravated assault where eyewitnesses told police there was a female perpetrator, 0:18:45.640 --> 0:18:50.000 a male accomplice, and guess what a gray car. It's 0:18:50.119 --> 0:18:56.320 unclear what happened with that case and something else related 0:18:56.320 --> 0:18:59.080 to this crime. To help you understand, starting in the 0:18:59.160 --> 0:19:03.679 late eighties, sports starter jackets were a hot commodity. An 0:19:03.800 --> 0:19:06.199 article in The New York Times from February of nineteen 0:19:06.280 --> 0:19:10.840 ninety discusses the phenomenon, calling it quote an increasingly pervasive 0:19:10.920 --> 0:19:14.760 kind of urban crime, robberies by young people willing to 0:19:14.880 --> 0:19:17.800 kill for clothes end quote. They cite that at the 0:19:17.840 --> 0:19:20.760 time these jackets went from ninety to two hundred dollars, 0:19:21.160 --> 0:19:24.760 which today would be about two hundred to four hundred dollars, 0:19:25.200 --> 0:19:27.480 So Kevin Gaddy becoming a target for his jacket that 0:19:27.600 --> 0:19:32.359 night was not necessarily unusual at the time. However, Fay's 0:19:32.400 --> 0:19:35.440 attorney failed at making a case that Fay was caught 0:19:35.520 --> 0:19:38.199 in the wrong place at the wrong time, and that 0:19:38.280 --> 0:19:42.520 she did not commit the crime. Fay was able to 0:19:42.560 --> 0:19:45.040 testify on her own behalf, however, and she tried to 0:19:45.040 --> 0:19:47.240 make the case for herself that she did not kill 0:19:47.280 --> 0:19:47.720 her friend. 0:19:48.560 --> 0:19:51.400 In my little mind, I'm thinking that, you know, soon 0:19:51.400 --> 0:19:53.200 as I go to court, I can just tell the 0:19:53.320 --> 0:19:56.560 judge that I didn't do this and uc and I'll 0:19:56.560 --> 0:20:01.080 go home. But the reality, that's not how it works, 0:20:01.200 --> 0:20:03.720 you know, but I didn't know that, I really believe 0:20:03.760 --> 0:20:05.640 that I was going to get out of there. 0:20:08.280 --> 0:20:12.040 On April twenty first, nineteen ninety three, Fate was convicted 0:20:12.040 --> 0:20:15.000 of capital murder and sentenced to life without parole. 0:20:15.440 --> 0:20:17.040 She was just sixteen years old. 0:20:22.520 --> 0:20:25.280 I didn't I didn't comprehend that I was going to 0:20:25.320 --> 0:20:29.160 prison for the rest of my life. You know. It 0:20:29.200 --> 0:20:31.760 was until I got back to the jail that the 0:20:31.880 --> 0:20:33.520 jailer told me, you know, you're not going to ever 0:20:33.560 --> 0:20:36.240 get out. You know you're going to jail, you know. 0:20:36.400 --> 0:20:40.640 And so I was broken inside, you know, had been 0:20:40.760 --> 0:20:41.480 ripped apart. 0:20:41.600 --> 0:20:43.080 You know, are you telling me? 0:20:43.200 --> 0:20:45.120 I'm thinking to myself, are you saying that I can 0:20:45.200 --> 0:20:47.640 never be with my parents again. 0:20:47.720 --> 0:20:48.480 I can never go. 0:20:48.480 --> 0:20:51.200 Back to my bed, you know, my home. So I'm 0:20:51.240 --> 0:20:53.240 losing all my friends. I mean, all this is going 0:20:53.320 --> 0:20:54.560 to be taken. Are you kidding me? 0:20:56.560 --> 0:21:00.119 Fay's world had turned completely upside down. 0:21:00.800 --> 0:21:04.919 I had many days of crying. So when I was 0:21:04.960 --> 0:21:07.399 first put in, I was put in a cell all 0:21:07.440 --> 0:21:10.959 by myself because I was sixteen. But days later I 0:21:11.080 --> 0:21:14.480 was sent to an adult place because I was charged 0:21:14.480 --> 0:21:17.440 at an adult and so of course I had adults 0:21:17.560 --> 0:21:21.159 tunt me and bothered me. I had even got jumped 0:21:21.160 --> 0:21:24.200 on it in the county jail, you know, because of 0:21:24.800 --> 0:21:29.119 this high profile and that's the juvenile that killed the 0:21:29.160 --> 0:21:32.040 guy for his jacket, you know, that's how. 0:21:31.920 --> 0:21:32.840 It was labeled. 0:21:33.280 --> 0:21:36.000 And so I would go to my room, I would cry. 0:21:36.080 --> 0:21:39.640 I wouldn't let people see me cry because if they 0:21:39.760 --> 0:21:43.280 saw that, that a show a sign a weakness, and 0:21:43.680 --> 0:21:47.280 they would really take advantage of you and do things. 0:21:47.359 --> 0:21:48.880 But yeah, I was very scared. 0:21:56.960 --> 0:22:00.560 Eventually, Fay settled into the prison environment and just like 0:22:00.560 --> 0:22:04.159 in high school, her outgoing personality and love of people 0:22:04.359 --> 0:22:06.680 got her through. By the time she had been there 0:22:06.680 --> 0:22:09.159 for several years, she had started making a name for 0:22:09.200 --> 0:22:12.640 herself as a generous person to those coming into the system. 0:22:13.560 --> 0:22:16.320 And so a lot of ladies come in there and 0:22:16.400 --> 0:22:18.439 they don't have the headphones and things like that. So 0:22:18.800 --> 0:22:21.760 I always had extra so I can share with the 0:22:21.800 --> 0:22:23.000 other ladies. 0:22:22.680 --> 0:22:22.879 You know. 0:22:23.720 --> 0:22:26.359 In two thousand and nine, Tiffany Woods came to prison. 0:22:26.880 --> 0:22:31.960 I was incarcerated for DWIS. So they had moved me 0:22:32.040 --> 0:22:37.120 in the barracks with a and in order to watch TV, 0:22:37.560 --> 0:22:41.520 you have to have a radio. Well, I didn't have 0:22:41.560 --> 0:22:44.440 any family outside you know, to actually send me any 0:22:44.480 --> 0:22:48.200 money to buy me a radio. So I've seen fayees 0:22:49.200 --> 0:22:52.399 all bubbly playing games and stuff, and I was like, 0:22:52.560 --> 0:22:56.760